


An Unexpected Turn of Events

by Hours_Gone_By



Series: AU Yeah AUgust 2019 [18]
Category: Transformers – Aligned Continuity Family, Transformers – All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe – Criminals, Alternate Universe – Detective, Art, Art Theft, Au Yeah August 2019, Detectives, Developing Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Investigation, Playing Both Sides, criminals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hours_Gone_By/pseuds/Hours_Gone_By
Summary: It isn't often that the Department of Cultural Investigation is called to investigate a crime. But, when political pressure is brought to bear after the theft of a statuette from a museum, Jazz gets the assignment. He's investigated this thief's work before but never gotten close to catching them. He's not expecting to have any luck this time, either. Not unless Prowl, the Enforcer he's working with, can come up with some new way to solve it.
Relationships: Jazz & Prowl
Series: AU Yeah AUgust 2019 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1441549
Comments: 24
Kudos: 51





	An Unexpected Turn of Events

**Author's Note:**

> Day 28 - Detective

Jazz had barely set foot back in the office that morning before he got called into the Director's office. Crosscut looked like he'd been there for a while already. He usually took his energon warmed, but the cube on the desk was no longer gently steaming like it would if it were fresh. It hadn't gotten the skim on top Jazz would've expected to see if it had been there since yesterday, either, so it had to be new.

"What's up, boss?" Jazz asked, wondering what had happened. Usually, Crosscut let him at least grab a cube and check his messages before giving him an assignment.

Crosscut handed him a flimsy. "Our friend has been active again, right here in Iacon this time."

Jazz swore and scanned the text swiftly. "What'd they – Primus, that's ugly. Does the museum want me to find them so they can thank them for making sure no one sees it?"

"Jazz."

Jazz waved a vaguely apologetic hand. "Fine, yeah, I'll behave. But really."

"Questions of taste aside," Crosscut continued, "this particular item was on loan from the High Temple of Primus to the Central Iacon Art Museum. I've been getting upset calls about it all morning."

Cybertron's Office of Cultural Investigation did sometimes help investigate art theft, usually if the item was deemed to be of high cultural value. Jazz checked his database of highly valued items to see what all the fuss was about and found it quickly. Owned by the Temple, donated by Nova Prime. It wasn't hard to guess that a lot of the pressure, in this case, was political.

"Have the city Enforcers assigned anyone," Jazz wanted to know, "or is this all ours?"

"They're investigating," Crosscut said. "Captain Flatfoot is sending the first available detective. I want you to go meet them at the museum so you can assist them."

Jazz gave him a skeptical look. "Boss, how much of this is an investigation and how much is to make the priests and politicians happy?"

Crosscut shrugged and waggled his hand in a 'fifty-fifty?' gesture. "But you are the one who knows the most about our friend here." Which wasn't much but still. "I'm still convinced you almost got close to him once."

"Yeah, well, almost doesn't get the job done." Jazz memorized the information on the flimsy and handed it back. "If they do get caught this time, we splitting the credit with the Enforcers?"

"Only if we get the statuette back."

"Right. So all I have to do is help the Enforcers track down and arrest a thief who's been operating for vorn without leaving so much as a trace," Jazz concluded.

Crosscut huffed a laugh. "Yeah. Simple."

Jazz confirmed the name of the museum director with Crosscut – Abstraction, oh joy – and headed out. Mid-way there, he got a message saying that the detective he was meeting with was named Prowl. A quick check on the name revealed that Prowl usually investigated homicides, not theft, and definitely not art theft. Well, Jazz supposed he could be working with worse.

Abstraction was just as happy to see Jazz as Jazz was to see him – and it was _not_ Jazz's fault those paintings had turned out to be forgeries! Mech was holding a grudge for no reason.

"At least I have someone here who knows something about art," Abstraction grumbled. "The Enforcers sent me a _homicide_ detective. Homicide! Can you imagine?"

"I may not have experience in art theft," the detective pointed out, sounding as if this wasn't the first time he'd pointed this out to Abstraction, "but I have worked thefts before."

Abstraction looked like he was about to go off again, and Jazz intervened.

"Hey, Abstraction," Jazz said, neatly inserting himself between the two mecha in a completely casual way. "I got this. You know I know my stuff, right? That's why Crosscut sent me. I'll show the mech the ropes. You should go answer the messages that are probably filling your inbox."

Abstraction made a staticky sound of annoyance but left.

"I take it you two have met," Prowl observed drily.

"Yeah, once or twice," Jazz said, turning to look at Prowl.

Hm. Pretty standard Enforcer structure, probably sparked to it, paint free of scratches, higher-end polish. Kind of on the expensive side, but lots of mecha had that one thing they indulged in, and that must be Prowl's. Jazz also noted the piercing, ice-blue optics. Prowl had been sparked long enough ago that his self-repair had individualized him to his spark's specs and he no longer had the standard faceplate. It was a handsome face, and Jazz was not going to be sorry to have to look at it during the investigation.

"I'm Jazz," he introduced himself. "Cultural Investigations sent me. We've investigated this mech's work before, so my Director thought I could give you a hand."

"I'll appreciate any information you're able to give me, of course," Prowl replied, and introduced himself. "Detective Prowl, Iacon Enforcers."

"Well, we don't have much," Jazz admitted. "Mech's slick. Doesn't leave traces, puts everything back exactly the way he found it, and I mean _exactly_ , except whatever he boosts. Never any signs he's hacked the security systems either, even though he has to have done. Mech might as well be a ghost."

"You've never found anything?" Prowl asked, optic ridge raised.

Jazz shook his head. "Closest we've come is finding a couple of the fences he's used, but they can't tell us much. Every description we get is different, so this mech must alter their superstructure and paint a lot, plus they use some kind of distortion field over their faceplate. No luck tracking him down that way."

"I see." Prowl tilted his head a little, considering. "Do you believe this incident will be the one that leads to their capture?"

Jazz chuckled. "Oh, no. Nah, I'm going to guess we're not going to get any closer to them this time than we have any other time. But it's worth a shot, right?"

"I suppose it is," Prowl replied. "I'm almost finished here. Why don't you return to the precinct with me, and we'll review what my team and I have found so far?"

"Sure. I don't know you'll find much, though," Jazz warned.

"Perhaps not," Prowl acknowledged. "We can only look."

True enough. "All right, then," Jazz said. "I want to take a look around first. Meet you back there?"

Prowl agreed, and they separated. Jazz examined the gallery and the display case from which the statuette had been stolen and, as expected, found nothing. Well, almost nothing: he was pretty sure he'd figured out where the mech had to have hidden, but there was no way to _prove_ it. Damn. With the scene revealing nothing, Jazz gave up for now and headed for Prowl's precinct.

* * *

Prowl gathered the crime scene's data from his evidence team, not that there was much, and set it up on a table in a little-used interrogation room. The arrival of a mech from Cultural Investigations was a surprise, but he supposed pressure from the Temple had something to do with it. They wouldn't be happy about losing part of their set, but the fuss would eventually die down. Prowl would be able to get back to his usual workload soon enough.

Jazz arrived shortly, strolling into the room and casting an appraising look at the items Prowl had set out.

"I'm afraid you were right, and there's not much," Prowl said, sounding apologetic. "The lock on the display case has to have been hacked, but there's absolutely no evidence of it. There's no evidence it was opened at all."

"Yeah, sounds about right," Jazz said, sounding resigned. He wondered if Abstraction had bothered to give Prowl history, or if he'd just ranted. "It gets better: the statuette that was stolen? Belongs to a group representing the Thirteen, _and_ it was donated to the Temple by Nova Prime. They won't let this one go easily."

Prowl considered Jazz's tone and body language. "Is this manner of detective work not to your liking?"

"Eh," Jazz shrugged. "I don't mind it, but I like my regular work better. Y'know, looking into different groups around Cybertron, learning about their culture and traditions, especially the music."

"I see. Hopefully, you can return to your regular work shortly. In the meantime, I appreciate your assistance." Prowl smiled self-deprecatingly. "I'm afraid I don't know much about art theft."

"Well, I'll tell you what else I know, but it isn't much."

"Every little bit helps," Prowl assured him. "Let's begin with the thief's history."

"Right. Here goes…"

Prowl listened intently to Jazz's description of the unnamed thief's history, taking mental notes. Jazz might not think he had anything, but Prowl wanted to be sure he didn't know more than he thought he did. It was only prudent to have as much information on your opponent as possible, after all.

* * *

The pressure to find the statuette and, hopefully, arrest the thief didn't lighten. The Temple was furious, the museum embarrassed, and both determined to get the piece back. Jazz ended up catching a lot of it, just because they seemed to see a Cultural Investigator ranked higher than an Enforcer detective. In fact, Jazz was sorely tempted to set up his comm system to automatically answer every message with 'No, I don't know anything new!' But he had enough problems already without slagging some higher-up or their friend off, so he didn't. Prowl, who caught some of the flak on the side, understood.

"It will all sort itself out," Prowl told him as they grabbed some late-night fuel after following up a fruitless lead about a fence who'd supposedly been approached to sell the statuette. There had been a fence, and a statuette, but not the right statuette. Prowl had arrested the fence anyway, but they were still no closer to solving the museum theft than they had been at the start of the night.

"Yeah, I know," Jazz sighed, setting their cubes down on a table and taking a seat. "Just getting tired of being asked the same questions over and over again. It's like they think nagging me will make their property come rolling back or something."

"If only," Prowl replied, setting down some treats he'd bought, though Jazz hadn't noted what they were at the time. Primus, he really was tired.

"Yeah." Jazz looked at the plate Prowl had put in front of him. "That chrome-alloy pie?"

"A personal favourite," Prowl said.

"Yeah, mine too." Jazz took a bite before even trying his fuel. "Hey, that's pretty good. It would've been nice if it had sorted itself out tonight, though."

"True."

They refuelled in silence, and when they were done, Prowl suggested Jazz go back home and get some rest while Prowl filed their report.

"Thanks, Prowler," Jazz said gratefully. "See you tomorrow, and we'll start at it again?"

"See you tomorrow, Jazz."

* * *

Prowl did as he'd promised Jazz and returned to the precinct to file their report. Then he went home just like he'd told Jazz to do.

Prowl's apartment hid – well, many secrets, but only one he was interested in right now. A shame, he thought, looking down at the statuette lying in his palm. The fuss over it would have driven the price up, but Prowl could see the toll the investigation was taking on Jazz. There was far too much pressure being put on him by people who didn't seem to be doing much but sitting around barking orders and expressing disapproval. Prowl wasn't a monster, and besides, he liked Jazz, who really was working too hard. It wasn't like Prowl _needed_ the money, after all. It wouldn't cost him anything to give the ugly little thing back.

Besides, he'd never returned anything before, it would be something new to do. He'd need someplace good to leave it, though. After a nano-klik's thought, Prowl began to smile.

* * *

"Right on my desk!" Abstraction shouted. "It was left _right on my desk_! With a _bow_ tied around its neck! This thief tied a _bow_ around The Fallen's neck and left it on my desk!"

"I'll have my team sweep the building looking for the security breach," Prowl promised.

"Seems like the attention you kept on it being stolen made it too hot," Jazz said, hoping Abstraction would pick up on the suggestion the statuette was back thanks to him. Pick it up and shut up; Jazz was getting tired of dealing with the mech. "Bet the Temple'll be happy to get it back too."

"I don't see a need to explain how it was returned," Prowl added. "Only that it was."

Abstraction still looked aggrieved, but he was starting to calm down. "I suppose you're right. I'll have our appraisers make sure it's genuine and undamaged, then start making calls. Better sooner than later." He picked up the statuette, bow and all, and headed for the door. "If you'll excuse me."

Jazz waited until Abstraction's office door had slid shut before turning to Prowl. "Well, I fragging sure did not see that one coming, did you?"

"It's definitely an unexpected turn of events," Prowl agreed.

"Yeah, no kidding. The pressure will be off, at least." Jazz rolled his shoulders, already feeling the tension he'd been carrying start to release. "Can't say I'm sorry, even if we didn't catch the mech. Probably going to be some fallout, too, even if we did get it back – well, sort of."

"Likely," Prowl agreed. "Still, I have enjoyed working with you."

Jazz smiled. "Enjoyed working with you, too, Prowler. Wanna hang out sometime?"

Prowl smiled back. "I'd like that, yes."

"Alright. Let's go deal with what we've gotta deal with and then, dunno, grab some of that pie again?"

"I'll meet you at the same café after my shift," Prowl promised.

Jazz's grin broadened. "Can do. Looking forward to it."

* * *

"Yes," Prowl said, delighted for, well, several reasons. "So am I."

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
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>   * Short comments
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